Judas Priest bassist, Ian Hill, opened up about heavy metal music today and during a conversation with Turkish Metal Oda, Hill was asked what piece of advice he would give to himself if he could go back in time 50 years ago to the beginning of Judas Priest career:
“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, back then, you hope you’re gonna make it and hope you’re gonna get on in the world and become popular. You don’t ever believe it until it happens, but you just keep on, and it’s really just patience and persistence more than anything.
”Just keep at it. If you’ve got something to offer… It’s what I’d say to anybody who’s starting off today, although it is a little bit more difficult getting on today. Not that it was ever easy, but it’s a little bit more difficult today, because the system has changed beyond all recognition from when we started. But, yeah, it’s persistence and keep at it and self-belief.”
Discussing Judas Priest’s new album “Invincible Shield”, the bassist also said:
“We’ve had a lot of stuff thrown at us over the years. I mean, people have been trying to kill heavy metal now for about 35, 40 years, so it’s always been a bit of a struggle against the establishment if you know what I mean.
”But we’ve always sort of managed to survive and come through it. And then we’ve had court cases with people trying to screw us out of a lot of money for absolutely no reason whatsoever. And then the personal struggles of the members of the band. I mean, Rob’s (Halford) had cancer scares. Richie (Faulkner) almost died on stage a few years ago.
”And, of course, Glenn’s (Tipton) problems with his Parkinson’s disease. And even that he can still get up on stage and play a couple of the encores. It’s almost like having an invincible shield out in front of you. Although I’ve just put a kiss of death on that probably.”